Arizona State edges Oklahoma

Boyd tied for second on Sun Devils' single-season homer list

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A pitching duel broke out with No. 1 Arizona State edging No. 9 Oklahoma, 3-1, in front a standing-room only sold crowd at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Dallas Escobedo (33-3) struck out six in a complete-game, allowing one run on five hits.

The bats were silenced by the cannons of Escobedo and Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts until the fourth inning when the sneaky Sun Devils drew first blood after a walk and hit by pitch started the inning. OU ended up paying dearly for the miscues as Mandy Urfer laced a single up the middle to plate pinch runners Kayla Ketchum and Bailey Wigness to break the stalemate and give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead.

The Sooners started a bit of a rally with some two-out hitting in the fifth. A Haley Nix double to right center to cut the lead in half, 2-1. That was all Escobedo was going to allot to the Sooners as she stepped up to shutdown the powerful bats the remainder of the day.

Katelyn Boyd decided to add an insurance run in the fifth inning, leading off with a solo shot to left center for her first career hit in the WCWS and her 18th homer of the year, tying her for second on the Sun Devils single-season list.

Ricketts (29-14) took the loss after giving up three runs on six hits in six innings. Oklahoma fell to 41-18.